Schools
Two UCS teams make a big splash at Underwater Robotics competition
The 2016 Great Lakes regional Marine Advanced Technology Education Remote Operated Vehicle competition was held May 21, 2016 in Alpena MI.
The 2016 Great Lakes regional Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) competition, was held this May 21st 2016 in Alpena Michigan, and hosted by the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary.
The competition pitted 28 student teams against each other in an underwater robot challenge.
The annual event encourages students to learn and apply science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) skills as they design and build underwater robots to complete missions that simulate real-world challenges from the ocean and Great Lakes workplace.
The Eisenhower Seagles took 2nd place overall in the advanced Ranger Class, 1st place robot demonstration (highest robot score), 1st place safety, 3rd place presentation and 3rd place for their technical report.
The team members are from Eisenhower High School and Malow Jr. High - Kyle Weishaar (10th), Nick Krstevski (10th), Tyler Materna (10th), Allister Ho (10th), Nathan Valdenor (10th), Trent Hildreth (10th), Alex Roy (10th) and Paul DeSaele (9th).
The Flaming Turtles from Malow Jr. High, took 3rd place overall in the Navigator Class, 1st place presentation, 1st place safety, 2nd Place marketing display, and 3rd place robot demonstration (highest robot score).
The team members are all from Malow Jr. High - Katie Roy(7th), Angelo Asta (7th), Madelyn Brown (8th), Roger DeSaele (7th), Brady Hannan (7th), Samantha Lewis (7th), Alex McConkie (7th), and Zack Pass (7th).
“This is a great program for kids” stated the Flaming Turtle’s coach Curtis DeSaele. “The Flaming Turtles are a 1st year team, and had to learn everything. They built a robot from scratch, using PCV, motors, Arduino microcomputers, joysticks, backup cameras, salad tongs and lots of wire. The team learned how to solder, program C++, create hand powered hydraulic systems, waterproof electrical wires and components, and how to navigate underwater - only using the video system on the robot. The team is already talking about next year’s challenge, and what they can do to improve the robot.”
